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Bikers Can Be Jerks
Blog Date - 22 September 2016
"Ooooh bikers are so friendly", "They're one big family", "They're really easy to get along with". Meh!
Bikers are people. Just ordinary regular people. Along with riding motorcycles they have jobs and families, they have money worries and domestic problems, they have good moods and bad moods and it is highly unlikely you'll "get along great" with every motorcyclist you meet. Some bikers can be the most miserable gits you'll ever meet. Some of them, perhaps too many of them, ride like morons. Some of them are caring and loving. Some of them will make you laugh so hard you'll ache for hours. They're people.
I got to thinking about this after a biker apexed a corner onto my side of the road forcing me to move off my line to avoid him. Jerk. I am told this happened to me once before back in 2002. That time I guess I didn't manage to avoid the motorcyclist and ever since then I've had one funny boot and some weird scars. I get quietly cross when bikers always blame "the cagers" for causing accidents. Sometimes it is the car drivers at fault, sometimes bikers can be jerks.
Reader's Comments
Ren - The Ed said :-
Yesterday on a sunny Sunday afternoon while riding through the Yorkshire Dales Sharon and I chanced upon another rider once again on my side of the road coming around a blind bend.
The offending rider was overtaking 2 other motorcycles. I suspect they were riding as a group but perhaps not. All of the suspected group were riding large adventure bikes, all of them were two up and all of them dressed correctly. They were not your typical street hooligan types at all. Is there something about motorcycling that turns ordinary folks into morons?
We did have a run-in with a more stereotypical street hooligan. A crotch rocket jockey aboard his GSXCBRYZFZZ 1000 made his own dubious manoeuvres in a bid to get stuck behind the same cars we were happily stuck behind.
There was one car driver whom decided Sharon was in his way on a roundabout and I was in his way on the motorway slip road. Tailgating causes me to slow down usually.
Still - that makes car plonkers 1, motorcycle plonkers 2. It looks like the motorcycle plonkers are in the lead.
10/04/2017 15:30:53 UTC
Mutley said :-
I believe there is no such thing as a good or bad driver. Only differences is whether someone prepares and acts in a way to both deal with one's own mistakes and others mistakes. On a right hand band it's moving left to avoid the possible oncoming traffic that's drifted over the white lines either overtaking or texting whilst driving. It's slowing early on junctions forcing the motorist behind me to give themselves proper stopping distance to not rear end me. It's assuming that the person who eye contacted me will pull out just when I reach the junction they are pulling out of.
Maybe we all want to believe that we are somehow better motorists but I would argue that it's better to believe we all suck a little and just attempt to reduce the margin of risk of an accident by realising this
14/10/2018 08:48:04 UTC
Upt'North said :-
Mutley.
I think if you treat every other road user as a pillock you don't go far wrong.
But yes we all make mistakes, not me obviously! But the problem with two wheels is that mistakes hurt. A lot!
Keep em' peeled and non illigitum carbarundum. Or something like that?
Upt'North.
14/10/2018 17:12:31 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
It must be a northern thing...I'm perfect too Upt'North.
Yeah we all suck a little Mutley, that's for sure. Of course being perfect my mistakes are deliberate merely to help other folk feel better about themselves. I agree with the whole defensive riding/driving and assuming that everyone else makes mistakes too so we should be aware of what could happen.
I do think there are bad drivers and riders though. I believe 99.9% of motorists are "up to scratch" but as you say they make honest mistakes. There are however those one in a thousand who are aggressive, selfish and really don't give a flying toss about other road users or the laws. Thing is these are the motorists that stand out and make the rest of us feel like "they're all out to get me!"
15/10/2018 10:13:53 UTC
Ian Soady said :-
Yes.
I used to get really wound up about the 0.1% (and my wife still does) but some years ago I came to the conclusion that they obviously have very sad inadequate lives and they're the ones that have to live with their unresolved fury. So I just give a gentle shake of the head....
I've been the victim of actual road rage 3 times - twice on the bike, once in the car. Fortunately in each case I was able to find an escape route before physical contact took place. All were initiated by my giving what I thought was a polite toot to point out some egregious behaviour. So I try to keep clear of the horn button except to warn others of my presence, not to reprimand anyone.
15/10/2018 11:36:31 UTC
NigelS said :-
For some reason known only to themselves I was asked to go on the Bike Safe committee by Staffordshire County Council a few years ago. Apart from the fact that it took me only 4 or 5 meetings to realise the bloke from the Cooncil that ran the committee wasn't interested in our suggestions for improving road safety but was only worried about writing positive reports after each meeting so he could keep his job, I did get access to a lot of data, some of which was quite surprising but rather telling such as roughly half of KSI accidents in the county were 'single vehicle' i.e. the rider did it all on their own without any interference from . . . . . (insert your own well known German or Swedish car make here). Although two wheel powered vehicles represent only 1% of all vehicles, we suffer 18% of KSI's and the most common accident involved in two vehicle accidents was being hit by a car emerging from a side turning (no surprises there) or SMIDSY accidents as they're called. Speed was one of the major factors in motorcycle accidents (again no surprise) at nearly 40%, and age a very major factor (17-24 year group totally disproportionately represented in KSIs). No wonder the Govt. is making the test regime harder and harder to get a full licence! My personal take is that m'cycles are now far too powerful for a lot of the inexperienced riders that buy them; what is the point of 200bhp when the speed limit in this country is 70???
Yours sincerely,
Boring ole Phart (but one who's still alive after 54 years of biking!)
16/10/2018 07:58:15 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
KSI = Killed or Seriously Injured? We plebs don't generally come across such acronyms.
The old "how much power is too much power" question will run and run and run. I'll add a link to Sharon's blog where she covered some of this subject. It's oft been commented on here that, well, 250 is enough for the legal limits and 400 is plentiful. However due to the nature of our blog posts I am certain we don't attract visitors of the CBRGSXRFZRYZFRRRRRRRRRR 1000 kind. I mean they are more than welcome but the lack of wheelie tips and our advice to take it easy and keep good road position probably bores them to tears.
When I am dictator only Honda CBF125s will be allowed. Unless you are a dictator then you can ride a 250.
bikesandtravels.com/biker.aspx?ride=939...
16/10/2018 12:59:01 UTC
Upt'North said :-
Arghh, the old how much is too much question!
It is a very interesting point actually, well if you're old and boring like moi it is!
Remember when we were young, some of you may still be; in a previous life I remember taking delivery of a Yamaha RD400 in red and white livery. I rode it like I stole it and I never thought for one inkling this bike could do with another 160 bhp! I often thought, why is that front wheel quite so high and was that white dust out of the exhaust a piston! It was.
Let's move on to today and my motorcycling habits have changed slightly and usually involve a ST1100 with pillion and lots of luggage. By lots I mean two pannier bags and the top box pretty full, enough for extended rides at home and abroad. I reckon it probably weighs about half a tonne with its full load.
Now this behemoth puts out about 100 bhp but far more important than that is the torque which means it'll just about go everywhere in top gear, which is fifth. There's another discussion, why do we need 6, DCT, etc.
My own view is 100 bhp is plenty for what I do and overtakes are never a problem, I'm sure others probably think it would move as well as a geriatric snail.
But that's kinda the point, we are all individuals and the manufacturers also get it. Well some of them anyway; the Honda 500 and 750 twins are what a manufacturer the size of Honda can risk. By all accounts great bikes but no one can review them ( I mean the press!) without stating the bleeding obvious that they don't produce as much power as other bikes of their size. Last year one well known motorcycle rag stated that the new Bonneville, low power, high torque was the way to go, but it's low on power compared to other bikes of its size!!!!!! Guess what people aren't buying them in the numbers expected so they've upper the power. According to the same rag, it's the way to go apparently.
So In conclusion, it's the media that drive us towards high powered, expensive missiles; but only if we let them.
FWIW.
Upt'North.
And yes ED, don't mention you being naked ever, ever again!
16/10/2018 16:20:15 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I'm almost naked in my tent right now.
Is it the motorcycle press telling us we need more power OR do the magazines reflect the western attitude of more always being better?
18/10/2018 18:52:05 UTC
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